Background and aim Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD), collectively labelled as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are idiopathic, chronic inflammatory disorder of the bowel with a remitting and relapsing course. IBD are associated to poor emotional functioning and psychological distress. We have investigated the brain involvement in patients with IBD using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Materials and methods We developed an emotional visual task to investigate the emotional functioning in 10 UC patients and 10 healthy controls (HC). Furthermore, we have compared the brain stress response between a group of 20 CD patients and a group of 18 HC. Finally, we evaluated potential morphological differences between 18 CD patients and 18 HC in a voxel based morphometry (VBM) study. Results We found brain functional changes in UC patients characterized by decreased activity in the amygdala in response to positive emotional stimuli. Moreover, in CD patients, the brain stress response and habituation to stressful stimuli were significantly different in the medial temporal lobe (including the amygdala and hippocampus), the insula and cerebellum. Finally, in CD patients there were morphological abnormalities in the anterior mid cingulated cortex (aMCC). Conclusion IBD are associated to functional and morphological brain abnormalities. The previous intestinal inflammatory activity in IBD patients might have contributed to determine the functional and morphological changes we found. On the other hand, the dysfunctions of the brain structures we found may influence the course of the disease. Our findings might have clinical implications. The differences in the emotional processing may play a role in the development of psychological disorders in UC patients. Furthermore, in CD patients, the different habituation to stress might contribute to stress related inflammatory exacerbations. Finally, the structural changes in the aMCC might be involved in the pain symptoms associated to the bowel disorder.

It is believed that the way of being and the communicative-relational skills of every individual have multifactorial origins, including the quality of primary relationships with caregivers. For some time, the need for health care professionals to possess specific communicative and interpersonal skills has been highlighted. To the degree course in Nursing, like to all other degree programs related to health, access is granted to students who have large individual differences, both in terms of personality, and in terms of relational skills. Each academic year, therefore, the people responsible for the didactic organization of every course, are faced with having to prepare a training plan capable of addressing communicative-relational aspects and, at the same time, of being adequate to the real attitudes of incoming students. Thus, the need for appropriate tools for measuring the personological and vocational traits considered specific to health professions was born. This study has a twofold objective. On one hand, it aims at selecting a battery of psychological tests to detect psychological and attitudinal patterns, to facilitate the coordinators of graduate courses in their didactic organization and planning of educational training; on the other hand, it seeks to assess the correlations between communicative-relational skills (Relational-Communicative style, according to the model of patient-centered medicine-TRS) (Mucchielli’s Test of Spontaneous Attitudes – usual kind of attitude in dual relationships), personality traits (Alexithymia), styles of attachment to parental figures (PBI), and the capability of recognizing facial emotions, in a sample of students enrolled in the first year of a degree in Nursing.

Today's information society is facing constant new challenges, one of which is how the public sector gives out information to their citizens. Sweden has long been a pioneer when it comes to openness and transparency. According to a study by the European Commission, Sweden is a well-functioning digital society, while the digital transparency and the openness to the public sector is still lower than other countries. The problem is that Sweden's public sector has not kept up with developments regarding the work with open data over the years and it has taken place in a decentralized manner. Timothy Berners-Lee, a British computer engineer and founder of the World Wide Web, advocates open linked data and addresses data owners to release their data as soon as possible, regardless of format. This study is based on Timothy's theory of open data and contains a literature study, a survey and a proof-of-concept model. The purpose of this study is to make a technical analysis of open data in Sweden’s public organizations and to be able to present a situational picture, as there are few technical studies about it. According to this study Timothy's theory is fully applicable in Sweden and there are several factors that the public sector should take notice of in the event of publication of data on the Internet. The technical potential for Sweden to comply with the EU-directive already exists and the biggest pitfalls have been the lack of knowledge from certain authorities and certain legal obstacles. The Swedish government needs to do a larger national effort to centralize the work with open data in order to turn Sweden into a leading country in terms of digital transparency and openness once again. / Dagens informationssamhälle står inför ständigt nya utmaningar, en av dessa är hur offentlig sektor ger ut information till medborgare. Sverige har länge varit ett föregångsland när det gäller öppenhet och transparens. Enligt en undersökning från Europeiska kommissionen är Sverige ett välutvecklat digitalt land, medan den digitala transparensen och insynen hos den offentliga sektorn fortfarande är lägre än hos andra länder. Problemet är att Sveriges offentliga sektor inte har följt med i utvecklingen gällande öppna data och arbetet har under åren skett på ett decentraliserat sätt. Timothy Berners-Lee, en engelsk dataingenjör och grundare till World Wide Web, förespråkar öppna länkad data och syftar till att dataägare ska frisläppa deras datalöpande, oavsett format. Denna studie baseras på Timothys teori gällande öppna data och har genomförts med hjälp av en litteraturstudie, enkätundersökning och en proof-of-concept modell. Syftet med studien är att göra en teknisk analys av öppna data i Sverige för att kunna presentera status för detta i en nulägesbild då det finns väldigt få konkreta studier om det. Enligt denna studie är Timothys teori fullt applicerbar i Sverige och det finns flertalet faktorer den offentliga sektorn bör ta i anspråk vid publicering av data för vidareutnyttjande på Internet. Den tekniska potentialen för Sverige att uppfylla EU-direktivet finns redan och de största fallgroparna är kunskapsbrist eller juridiska hinder. Styrande organ i Sverige behöver göra en större nationell satsning för att centralisera arbetet med öppna data så landet återigen kan bli ett föregångsland när det gäller digital transparens och öppenhet.

Phenomenology is a critical component of autobiographical memory retrieval. Some memories are vivid and rich in sensory details whereas others are faded; some memories are experienced as emotionally intense whereas others are not. Sutin and Robins (2007) identified 10 dimensions in which a memory may vary—i.e., Vividness, Coherence, Accessibility, Sensory Details, Emotional Intensity, Visual Perspective, Time Perspective, Sharing, Distancing, and Valence—and developed a comprehensive psychometrically sound measure of memory phenomenology, the Memory Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ). Phenomenology has been linked to underlining stable dispositions—i.e. personality, as well as to a variety of positive/negative psychological outcomes—well-being and life satisfaction, depression and anxiety, among others. Using the MEQ, a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study were conducted on a large sample of American and Italian adults. In both studies, participants retrieved two ‘key’ personal memories, a Turning Point and a Childhood Memory, and rated the affect and phenomenology of each memory. Participants also completed self-reported measures of personality (i.e. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness), and measures of depression, well-being and life satisfaction. The present research showed that phenomenological ratings tend (a) to cross-sectionally increase across adulthood (Study 1), and (b) to be moderately stable over time, regardless the contents of the memories (Study 2). Interrelations among memory phenomenology, personality and psychological outcome variables were also examined (Study 1 and Study 2). In particular, autobiographical memory phenomenology was proposed as a dynamic expression of personality functioning that partially explains adaptive/maladaptive psychological outcomes. In fact, the findings partially supported the hypothesized mediating effect of phenomenology on the personality association with psychological outcomes. Implications of the findings are discussed proposing future lines of research. In particular, the need for more longitudinal studies is highlighted, along with the combined application of both self-report questionnaires and narrative measures.

The general aim of this dissertation was to uncover the association between psychosocial factors and rehabilitation outcome after stroke. METHOD. A sample of patients with stroke (n=40) and their caregivers (n=36) were assessed at admission to and six months after discharge from rehabilitation hospital, using the following instruments: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, structured interview based on Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, Symptom Questionnaire, Psychosocial Index, Psychological Well-Being Scales, and Family Assessment Device. 40 subjects from the general population underwent the same psychological assessment. In addition, patients' functional status was measured using the Functional Independence Measure. RESULTS. Stroke survivors reported lower education and higher alcohol consumption than controls. No significant differences emerged between the two groups in the prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses or psychosomatic syndromes, however patients reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, and lower autonomy than controls. Caregivers reported significantly higher scores in anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms compared to normative data, while no impairments emerged in psychological well-being and family functioning. At six-month follow-up, in patients a significant decrease in smoking habit and an increase in DSM diagnoses were reported. Both stroke survivors and caregivers showed significant reductions in anxiety, with patients displaying also a decrease in somatic symptoms, an increase in stress and a deterioration in quality of life. Significant deteriorations in several aspects of family functioning was perceived only by patients. An association between patients' functional recovery in the cognitive domain and family behavior control emerged. For caregivers, family functioning significantly predicted hostility and somatic symptoms were associated with family affective involvement. CONCLUSIONS. These data highlight the utility in the Italian setting of the adoption of a psychosocial assessment and a family-systems approach in stroke rehabilitation, in order to development interventions properly targeted to the characteristics of patients and their family members.

Emotional intelligence (EI) represents an attribute of contemporary attractiveness for the scientific psychology community. Of particular interest for the present thesis are the conundrum related to the representation of this construct conceptualized as a trait (i.e., trait EI), which are in turn reflected in the current lack of agreement upon its constituent elements, posing significant challenges to research and clinical progress. Trait EI is defined as an umbrella personality-alike construct reflecting emotion-related dispositions and self-perceptions. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) was chosen as main measure, given its strong theoretical and psychometrical basis, including superior predictive validity when compared to other trait EI measures. Studies 1 and 2 aimed at validating the Italian 153-items forms of the TEIQue devoted to adolescents and adults. Analyses were done to investigate the structure of the questionnaire, its internal consistencies and gender differences at the facets, factor, and global level of both versions. Despite some low reliabilities, results from Studies 1 and 2 confirm the four-factor structure of the TEIQue. Study 3 investigated the utility of trait EI in a sample of adolescents over internalizing conditions (i.e., symptoms of anxiety and depression) and academic performance (grades at math and Italian language/literacy). Beyond trait EI, concurrent effects of demographic variables, higher order personality dimensions and non-verbal cognitive ability were controlled for. Study 4a and Study 4b addressed analogue research questions, through a meta-analysis and new data in on adults. In the latter case, effects of demographics, emotion regulation strategies, and the Big Five were controlled. Overall, these studies showed the incremental utility of the TEIQue in different domains beyond relevant predictors. Analyses performed at the level of the four-TEIQue factors consistently indicated that its predictive effects were mainly due to the factor Well-Being. Findings are discussed with reference to potential implication for theory and practice.

Abstract Background: Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal abnormality (total or partial absence of one of the sexual chromosomes in some or all cells of the body), which affects approximately 1:2000 female. Principal characteristics are short stature and gonadal disgenesis. Clinical management consist of Growth Hormone (GH) treatment and oestrogen replacement therapy (HRT), to induce development of secondary characteristics and to avoid the sequelae of oestrogen deficiency. Aim of the study: To assess clinical management, quality of life (QoL) and general psychosocial adjustment of women with TS. Population: 70 adult Caucasian females with TS (mean age: 27.8, ± 7.6; range 18-48 y.). Setting: Specialist service for Rare Disease care, University Hospital. Methods: Subjects were required to fill in questionnaires collecting ASR, WHOQOL, and 8 open questions. Data were compared with those of the Italian population or to those collected in a comparison group (70 healthy females, mean age: 27.9, ±7.3, range 21-48 y.). Results: Women with TS are educated as well as the Italian Population, but they have a less successful professional life. They show good QoL in general, but they appeared less satisfied in social area. They had statistically higher scores than the comparison group for depression, anxiety and withdrawal. Are less involved in a love relationship. Diagnosis communication was mostly performed by doctors or parents, satisfaction was higher when information was given by parents. Main preoccupation about TS are infertility, feeling of being different and future health problem. Conclusions: Italian people with TS were generally well adapted and have a good QoL, but lived more often with parents and show impaired sentimental and sexual life. They have higher degree of psychological distress compared to a comparison group. Psychological intervention should firstly address parents in order to encourage an open communication on diagnosis issues and on sexual education.

I governi e le organizzazioni sanitarie internazionali ribadiscono da tempo l’importanza dell’attivazione di processi di partecipazione al fine di coinvolgere cittadini e stakeholders sui temi riguardanti la salute e il benessere delle comunità. La partecipazione dei cittadini negli interventi di promozione della salute può rafforzare l'empowerment, migliorare la salute generale e ridurre le disuguaglianze. In coerenza con queste premesse, la Regione Emilia-Romagna ha promosso e finanziato un programma estensivo biennale “Guadagnare salute in contesti di comunità”, con lo scopo di promuovere processi partecipativi sui temi di sani stili di vita attraverso un lavoro intersettoriale, interdisciplinare e con il forte coinvolgimento delle comunità locali. Il programma ha previsto la realizzazione di 6 progetti che hanno coinvolto diversi territori della Regione. Analizzare e valutare la partecipazione dei cittadini e la sua efficacia, all’interno queste progettazioni, è molto complesso anche per le diverse posizioni dei decisori e degli operatori sanitari sul concetto stesso di partecipazione e coinvolgimento della comunità. A tale scopo sono stati realizzati due studi quali-quantitativi. Il primo studio qualitativo ha cercato di approfondire la natura delle rappresentazioni della partecipazione all’interno di 17 dirigenti e funzionari che hanno coordinato e implementato a livello regionale e locale i progetti di comunità regionali finanziati. Nel tentativo di indagare le relazioni di una specifica partecipazione di qualità e per le ambiguità emerse dal primo studio e dalla letteratura (Dowling et al.,2004; Granner&Sharpe, 2004; Aveling&Jovchelovitch,2013) il secondo studio ha cercato di comprendere in che modo l’esperienza di una qualità della partecipazione, delle collaborazioni interdisciplinari e della percezione di contribuire a livello decisionale possa essere in relazione con il senso di comunità, l’empowerment, la soddisfazione per la partecipazione e l’intenzione a continuare a partecipare. Gli studi confermano le importanti relazioni tra la partecipazione di qualità e precisi outcome e aprono la strada a futuri approfondimenti specifici. / Citizens’ participation in health promotion interventions, in order to strengthen community empowerment, improve overall health and reduce inequalities is a central assumption of community health psychology and for the most important health organizations and Governments. The study of citizens’ participation and its effectiveness is quite complex also for the different positions about the meaning itself of participation and about which kind of participation’s experience can be useful for who is involved. These issues so far not been explored among health workers, health’s partnership and citizens involved in community-based health project. In the north of Italy, the Emilia-Romagna Region has promoted and funded an extensive two-year program "Gaining health in community settings" with the aim to promote participatory processes on health issue of through work across sectors, interdisciplinary and with the strong involvement of local communities and citizens. In order to understand the representations, ideas and meanings attributed to participation in the health promotion intervention, from who promotes designs and facilitates participatory processes will be presented a qualitative study carried out on 17 interviews of managers and health care professionals who have contributed to the planning and implementation of various community projects. Also, as pointed out by different authors (Dowling et al., 2004; Granner & Sharpe, 2004;Aveling & Jovchelovitch, 2013) it has become increasingly necessary to shift the focus from a general participation to specific processes involved in a quality participation and their possible relation. Starting from these premises was investigated through a questionnaire to 234 participants, active in the design and implementation of these projects, which processes are involved in who have a higher "quality participation" participatory experiences. Specifically, the relationship of quality participation processes have been investigated with the sense of community, empowerment, the perception of efficacy, the satisfaction of the participation and the intention to continue to participate.

The present research expanded on the literature investigating mother-child feeding and playing interactions during the transition to self-feeding (18-30 months) in the preterm population. Maternal and infant factors were also considered. A total of 69 mother-child dyads (44 preterm and 25 full-term) participated in the research. Assessments took place at 18, 24, and 30 months of the child. At each assessment, mother-child interactions during feeding (Study 1) and during a doll-play (DP) situation representing feeding (Study 2) were video recorded and later coded, respectively through the SVIA (Ammaniti et al., 2006) and the EAS (Biringen, 2008). Moreover, the child’s development was assessed through the Griffiths Scale (Griffiths, 1996, 2006) and mothers filled the BDI-II (Beck & Steer, 1996), the STAI (Spielberg, 1983), and an anamnestic questionnaire built Ad-Hoc. Results of Study 1 showed a greater occurrence of dysfunctional feeding interactions in the preterm compared to the full-term group from 18 to 30 months. Specifically, preterm dyads reported greater maternal negative affective state, greater interactional conflict and lower dyadic reciprocity. Moreover, a significantly lower percentage of children in the preterm group reached eating autonomy compared to the full-term group during the 18-30 months period. Furthermore, adverse past feeding history (difficult breastfeeding and reflux) and lower total scores on the Griffiths were associated to a higher risk of child’s food refusal. Results of Study 2 showed that the preterm group displayed lower emotional availability than the full-term group during mother-child DP interactions from 18 to 30 months, with lower maternal sensitivity, greater maternal intrusiveness, and lower child’s involvement. These findings indicate that special attention should be paid to support mother-child interactions during the transition to self-feeding in the preterm population in order to foster the mother-child relationship and promote the child’s healthy eating behavior and affective development.

Introduzione. Nonostante il dolore sia un’esperienza comune a tutti gli esseri umani, è molto difficile darne una definizione esauriente sia esso fisico che psicologico. A tutt’oggi il dolore mentale è stato poco indagato. L’obiettivo principale del seguente progetto di ricerca è di delineare una più accurata definizione del costrutto di dolore mentale, verificare l’applicabilità dell’Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (OMMP) nella valutazione psicologica e la validazione della versione italiana di tale strumento. Metodologia. Sono stati condotti tre studi: il primo, su un campione di 15 soggetti, per verificare e confermare la validità di facciata dell’OMMP; il secondo, realizzato su un campione di 442 soggetti, oltre ad indagare le caratteristiche sociodemografiche associate con la dimensione del dolore mentale, si concentra sulla valutazione delle proprietà psicometriche dello strumento; il terzo è stato eseguito allo scopo di verificarne la struttura fattoriale ed indagare la relazione che intercorre tra dolore mentale e gli altri costrutti psicologici (n = 728). Risultati. Dai dati ottenuti è possibile delineare il profilo sociodemografico dei soggetti della popolazione generale con un maggior livello di dolore mentale: l’essere giovani, nubili/celibi e avere un livello di istruzione inferiore. L’analisi fattoriale esplorativa, non ha confermato la struttura a otto dimensioni descritta dagli autori, rivelandone una a quattro (19 item), e gli indici dell’analisi fattoriale confermativa lo supportano. Infine, le dimensioni del dolore si mostrano correlate con il distress psicologico. Discussioni e conclusioni. Il presente lavoro ha confermato la multidimensionalità del costrutto di dolore mentale nella popolazione italiana ed ha confermato la validità e l’attendibilità del OMMP_19_ITA. All’interno di diversi quadri psicopatologici è stata rilevata la presenza di un maggior livello di dolore mentale. / Introduction. Despite the pain is a common experience to all human beings, it is still very difficult to give a comprehensive definition both physical and psychological. Up till now, mental pain has been understudied The main objective of the following research project is to outline a more accurate definition of the mental pain construct, to verify the applicability of the Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (OMMP) in the psychological evaluation and validation of the Italian version of such tool. Methodology. Three studies were conducted: the first one, on a sample of 15 subjects, to verify and confirm the validity of the OMMP face; the second, conducted on a sample of 442 subjects, as well as investigate the socio-demographic characteristics associated with the mental pain dimension, focuses on the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the instrument; the third instead, was performed in order to verify the factorial structure and investigate the relation between mental pain and other psychological constructs (n = 728). Results. From the data obtained it is possible to outline the socio-demographic profile of the subjects of the general population with a higher level of mental pain: being young, maiden / celibate and have a lower level of education. The factorial explorative analysis, has not confirmed the eight-dimensional structure described by the authors, revealing a four one (19 item), and indexes of the confirmatory factorial analysis support it. Finally, the dimensions of the pain are shown correlated with the psychological distress. Discussions and conclusions. This work confirmed the multidimensionality of mental pain construct in the Italian population and also confirmed the validity and reliability of the OMMP_19_ITA. Within different psychopathological was detected the presence of a higher level of mental pain.